The Niagara News is the community newspaper of Niagara College located in Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is created and produced by the students of the Niagara College Journalism program.

Ontario addressing “chronic homelessness”

By AUSTIN GOODERStaff WriterThe Ontario government is introducing a new plan to combat what it describes as “chronic homelessness” across the province.The move comes after an expert advisory panel was created to provide a feasible solution.While it might sound like a simple task, it took seven months, dozens of panelists and representatives to submit a finished recommendation to the government.The report indicates that there are many factors to homelessness, and each requires a unique approach to solve.It specifically describes homelessness as “the lack of a safe and secure place to call your own.”Veronica Nicholson, executive director at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre, carried a strong indication of such to the panel.“We say to researchers, what are you going to do with us, not to us?” asked Nicholson in the report.Nicholson’s call was among many indications provided by the panel that the government should focus on aboriginal homelessness. The report also calls for an assessment of youth homelessness, chronic homelessness, and transitional support.In short, the report recommends that “[Ontario] work to build capacity, foster collaboration, and provide additional resources to prevent, reduce and end homelessness in Ontario.”The report and subsequent bill out of Queen’s Park could mean much for Niagara.While the 77-page report is general in its conclusions, it does specifically state that the government must create a larger capacity; more places for people to live affordably.A lack of affordable housing in Niagara has long been a sore spot for the area, but the problem has never seemed larger than it does now.Niagara Regional Housing (NRH), the corporation that manages and provides low-income housing in the region, is reporting a waitlist of 4,500 households.The NRH, which already houses 15,000 people in low-income facilities across 11 of the 12 municipalities in Niagara, has had to tighten the reins on admission standards for affordable housing units.Things may be looking a little brighter for NRH and likeminded organizations with the announcement from the province about its new plan to abolish homelessness.According to the Report of the Expert Advisory Panel on Homelessness, which was crafted from January to July of 2015, the province has provided on-the-ground organizations with nearly $4 billion since 2003. In 2010, the province created its Long-Term Affordable Housing strategy that aimed to put people in cheap, accessible housing.Regional Councillor Paul Grenier, elected to represent Welland, says that much more is going to be done in Niagara to eradicate homelessness and provide more low-income housing, though he says the solutions to both aren’t necessarily the same.“Providing housing to vulnerable people affects the homelessness issue but they’re two different things,” Grenier says.“We need to work together in these programs to make them more effective in eliminating poverty in Niagara.”According to Grenier, any new system or plan will have to jointly focus on homelessness and low-income housing if any progress is to be made.Grenier also says that Niagara Region faces a unique set of challenges in fixing both issues. He says that homeless doesn’t always mean sleeping on a bench.“Our population skews to be people that are older, and there are a lot of vulnerable people who don’t have the resources to keep going after they stop working,” Grenier says. “We have to confront that.”He says that some things are on the right track in Niagara, however.“More money is coming from the province over the next two years to help with building housing or helping people get housing.”Grenier also explains what the 4,500 household waitlist at the NRH really means.“There are people that are improperly housed, or can’t afford the house they live in. That’s what makes up the waiting list.”With the large percentage of the waitlist being made up from that group of people, Grenier says it means there are about 10,000 people included in the list.He highlighted another problem with discourse surrounding homelessness. It’s an issue that the governmental report describes as “invisible homelessness”. It’s those people who are homeless but aren’t found sleeping on park benches or on heating vents, according to the report.Similar to what Grenier says, the report emphasizes more needs to be done to address these types of homelessness issues.“We need to change the culture of thought,” Grenier says.Cindy Forster and Wayne Gates, Niagara members of provincial parliament for Welland and Niagara Falls respectively, did not return calls for comment from their Queen’s Park offices by press time.